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Longevity

A Truly Sustainable Health Care Solution

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Is Your Health Care Philosophy Sustainable?
When you think of “Health Care” what is the first image that pops into your mind? Do you envision hospitals, prescriptions, expensive surgeries, or a sick person? This is often what people have been conditioned to think about because the current health care delivery system is actually a Sick Care system in disguise. Fortunately, heart disease, diabetes and even many forms of cancer are preventable “lifestyle” diseases.

Lifestyle choices such as smoking, poor eating habits, sedentary living, and allowing stress to build all affect your body negatively and can cause you or a loved one to suffer from a disease that could have been prevented.

Suffering or sickness can be reasons to make lifestyle changes, and pain can certainly get your attention fast. However, avoiding sickness and pain altogether is a much more desirable option. When you make good choices and invest in your health you are more likely to thrive over the course of your lifetime. This is a truly sustainable health care solution for you and your family, and for our society as a whole.

The Health Care Hierarchy
The Health Care Hierarchy of The 100 Year Lifestyle is Self Care, Health Care, and Crisis Care, in that order. They will help you set your priorities regardless of your current health condition or age and get you on a sustainable path.

Self Care
Self Care is what you must do for yourself to keep your mind, body and spirit healthy and functioning at your highest level. Nobody can sleep, sit up straight or exercise for you.

Health Care
Health Care is what you need to do to stay healthy that you cannot do for yourself. Chiropractors, Dentists, and Nutritionists are some of the professionally trained experts that can help you stay healthy beyond your Self Care.

Crisis Care
Crisis Care is meant to help you recover from a serious injury or illness which requires the support of the appropriate crisis care specialists.

With the right Self Care and Health Care team you may be able to avoid the need for Crisis Care completely.

Who is Responsible?
Who is responsible for your health? Is it your doctor, government, or your insurance carrier? Keep in mind that our current health care system’s main focus is on Crisis Care only, sometimes leading to severe side effects and long term damage. Dramatic and expensive rescue measures as a way of life add to your stress and can make health challenges worse for you and your loved ones.

This even includes prescription drugs. The “quick fix” of over-the-counter or prescription drugs can make you feel different because they change your body chemistry but they can give you a false sense of security that everything is fine when it really is not.

Lifestyle Care
Chiropractic Lifestyle Care aligns your spine and nervous system to optimize your body’s functions. Your spine and nervous system are the means by which your brain communicates with your vital organs, muscles, ligaments, and cells. When there is interference to this communication system, the messages are interrupted. Your body may experience immediate symptoms or it may take a while to feel like something is wrong or not functioning like it used it.

Keeping your spine and nervous system aligned and balanced before a crisis can improve your body’s natural immunity and ability to reach a higher level of vitality, energy and health. If you are already in crisis, chiropractic care can remove the interference, get the pressure off the nerve and may promote a faster recovery without having to resort to more invasive options.

Begin making better lifestyle choices today for yourself and for your family. Make Self Care and Health Care your top priority.

© 2013. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

The Benefits of Lifestyle Care

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The benefits of Lifestyle Care are many and well documented. From improving athletic performance, increasing brain function and increasing bone density to strengthening the immune system and preventing deterioration, the results can be dramatic. And as common sense and world renowned chiropractor, Dr. Ernie Landi has stated so eloquently, “If you prevent it, you don’t have to treat it.”

Lifestyle Care is about keeping your spine and nervous system aligned, balanced and functioning to its full potential throughout your lifetime. This allows your brain and your body to communicate efficiently, without interference, so that they can function at their highest level and you can enjoy life to the fullest.

People will frequently ask, “This makes a lot of sense. How often should I come and get my spine and nervous system checked?”

Life Can Be Intense

The answer is quite simple and depends a lot on you. The intensity of your Lifestyle Care will depend on the intensity of your lifestyle as well as the underlying condition of your spine and nervous system. People who live stress free lives and have no underlying deterioration in their spine or nervous system require much less Lifestyle Care.

On the other hand, people with moderate amounts of stress and deterioration require more frequent visits and people who are under severe stress or have a lot of severe deterioration in their spine and nervous system require much more frequent visits to keep their body functioning at high levels of health. You and your chiropractor will determine together the frequency that is best for you based on your personal health condition and goals.

As the intensity of your lifestyle changes from month to month or from year to year you may find that the intensity of your Lifestyle Care also needs to change.

For example, if you have found that an adjustment every two weeks has been ideal for you and you change to a more stressful job with a lot of sitting or a long commute you and your chiropractor may find that one adjustment a week works better.

Chiropractic and Exercise

If you are a casual exerciser and decide to start participating in triathlons, the increased intensity of your training might require you to increase the intensity of your visits to multiple times per week. On the other hand, if your life becomes less stressful, you begin meditating three times a day and your underlying spinal conditions have already been corrected, you may find that your Lifestyle Care frequency may decrease in its intensity.

Lifestyle Care is Not Based on Symptoms

The most important thing for you to understand is that Lifestyle Care is not based on symptoms. Your frequency is not determined by how you feel but instead is determined by whether or not you have a subluxation, a spinal imbalance with nerve pressure, that needs to be adjusted. Since additional research has revealed that nerve compression can exist without pain, waiting until you have symptoms to get checked is not a good idea. Only your chiropractor can determine whether you need an adjustment or not through a chiropractic check-up.

Ask around and you will find that there are millions of people who have been under chiropractic care for decades not just because they have had a problem but because they have experienced the benefits of Lifestyle Care. These people may be some of the healthiest people you meet. Too many people in our society are suffering because they are crisis oriented when it comes to their health. Don’t let this happen to you. It is easier, less expensive and more fun to stay well than it is to have to get well after you become sick or injured. Make Lifestyle Care your top priority.

© 2013. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Those Annoying Aches and Pains

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Do You Have Any Annoying “…Aches?”

Do you have any annoying “…aches?” Are they in your head, neck, back or stomach? How about your eyes, ears, nose and throat? How about your heart, bladder or bowel? Annoying “…aches” can reduce your quality of life dramatically. They can keep you from work and keep your children out of school. They can hinder your relationships and they can cause you more severe problems down the road as you age.

Too Many People Cover Up Their “…Aches.”

Too many people cover up their “…aches” with dangerous prescription and non-prescription medication hoping that one more pill will fix the underlying cause. This rarely, if ever, happens. In fact, just the opposite is often true.

For example, chronic aspirin use can lead to ulcers. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, can cause liver failure, especially when mixed with alcohol. NSAIDS, like Motrin and ibuprofen, can cause your kidneys to fail. This is especially true when you consider the impact of time on the habit of masking symptoms with drugs.

You Have Other Options

Fortunately, you have other options, better options, and the answer often comes from within.
When your spine and nervous system is functioning properly, your body has the ability to heal itself from nearly every “…ache” that you might feel. Your nervous system controls and coordinates the function of every cell, tissue and organ of your body. It is your body’s natural IT, information technology, system.
When your natural IT system is functioning properly, your body gets the right messages to help you heal. The chemical balance can be normal. The adaptation responses can be appropriate. The healing response during times of injury or when there are “…aches” is right on.

You Will Be Amazed at Your Body’s Ability to Heal

You will be amazed at your body’s ability to heal from the annoying “…aches” that you experience when your IT system is balanced and aligned.

Beyond healing from injuries, aches and pains, if you keep your IT system functioning at its highest level long enough for your body to regenerate, you can expect a much higher level of health throughout your entire lifetime.

What makes this approach unique is that the goal is not to treat the symptoms by covering them up, manipulating your body chemistry or artificially altering the way you feel. By removing interference to your nervous system and balancing out your structure and spine, your body can repair itself on its own. You will be amazed at how much you have tolerated as “normal” once you see your body respond.

Removing the interference leads to spontaneous and long term healing. Before you take another drug to cover up the symptoms, research the medication on www.drugs.com. Learn as much as you can about it. Research the side effects over the long haul. The longer you take something, the more likely you are to experience the long list of side effects that you may not feel yet.

Living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle is not about barely surviving, having to cope with suffering, or rotting away as you age. It is about living your best life every day and staying healthy throughout your lifetime. Believe in yourself and your ability to heal from those “…aches”. Believe in your ability to function. Make the commitment to your health and invest in your immediate and long term well-being with chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

Baby Boomers vs. Their Parents

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Which Group is Healthier?
Unhealthy lifestyles have caused too many members of the baby boom generation to be in worse health compared to their parents during the same stage of life.

A recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine reported only 13% of today’s baby boomers are in excellent health while their parents’ generation was 32%. Comparatively speaking, 39% of today’s baby boomers are obese and 16% have diabetes. The previous generation’s numbers for these same conditions are 29% and 12% respectively.

According to Dana King, a professor at the West Virginia School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, today’s baby boomers are twice as likely to use a cane or walker than the previous generation. “It’s not too late to adopt new, healthy lifestyle habits and make a difference in your health,” said King.

Don’t Wait for a Crisis
What will it take for you to make the lifestyle changes you know you need to make to improve your quality of life? Will you wait for a severe crisis that leaves you with permanent damage and a future of disability or will you make a quality of life, Lifestyle Care, choice that will ensure your quality of life for the remainder of your years.

Easy FitNESS Acronym to Remember
The acronym FitN2ESS can get you on the right track immediately. To get and stay healthy and fit you need neurology, nutrition, endurance strength and structure.

Neurology: Every cell tissue and organ needs innervation, nerve supply, to function properly.

Nutrition: Choose quality calories over empty calories every time you make a food choice and drink plenty of good clean water.

Endurance: Cardiovascular exercise including walking, running, riding a bike or swimming will prepare you for the marathon of your extended life.

Strength: We have all seen an older person struggle to get out of a chair. Don’t wait until you lose your strength to try and get it back. Strength train now.

Structure: The health and function of your posture, spine and nervous system will determine how active and healthy you can be as you age.

If your posture appears to be changing don’t waste another minute and schedule a chiropractic check-up. Lifestyle Care can improve your health dramatically. It is very important that today’s baby boomers learn from our current generation of seniors and super-seniors who were blindsided by their extended lives. You cannot blame your genes for your current health condition. Adjust your lifestyle and optimize the expression of your genes so that you can enjoy the quality life you deserve.

Motivation for Lasting Change

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“Happy New Year!” How many times have you said these words to family, friends and coworkers? How many times have you said it over the past decade or two? How many times has it been said to you? Every one of us wants to have a happy, healthy New Year.

To ensure that this is your best year ever, there may be some things that you need to change and you probably already know what they are. Are they the same things you were thinking about last year? This time, let’s make these changes your new lifestyle.

To make changes that last, you will need to determine what your primary motivation for change has been in the past. Has it been crisis or quality of life?

Crisis motivation is caused by pain or suffering that has become so bad it forces you to take action. Crisis motivators include a health scare such as a heart attack, herniated disc or being diagnosed with a disease. For too many people, crisis motivation is their reminder to go to the chiropractor for a series of adjustments. Crisis motivation can also come from not being able to wear your clothes because they don’t fit anymore. Divorce, bankruptcy and a job lay-off are also crisis motivators that may get you moving and motivate you to make the changes that are inevitable. Crisis motivation does not lead to lasting change.

Quality of life motivation is inspired by the desire to live your best life today and every day. Think about what you want and the kind of life you want to live. Do you want to be healthy? Do you want a healthy relationship? Do you want to perform well at work or in sports? Quality of life motivation will lead you from survival to a life where you are thriving and living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

Too many people live from one crisis to another crisis and never make the Critical Transition to the quality of life they deserve. We see this in some people who return with the same or similar condition year after year only with more deterioration and chronicity because they have not made the Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care. How many years will you let pass by before you make your health a priority and make quality of life your primary motivator?

People that have made the Critical Transition from Crisis Care to Lifestyle Care are enjoying a much healthier quality of life and are optimizing their potential with their choices. They get their spine checked as a lifestyle. They make healthy eating a lifestyle. They make being fit a lifestyle. Are you ready to make the transition?

When it comes to health care choices, any person at any age can benefit from chiropractic care as they make changes towards a healthier lifestyle. If you or a loved one are in the middle of a crisis or you are ready for lasting change, contact us to find out how we can help you on your journey to living your best life every day starting with today.

Discipline & A Healthy Life

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Live More

“Discipline is getting yourself to do something you don’t necessarily want to do to achieve a result you really want to get.” – Andy Andrews

Most people want to be healthy, want to feel good, want to function well and live a long life. This does not happen by accident. The healthiest and happiest people on the outside have usually done a lot of work on the inside or in private to achieve this goal.

The discipline it takes to be healthy requires healthy choices done consistently for a long time. If you are currently unhealthy or have bad habits many of these choices are not easy at first. Discipline requires that we develop habits, good habits, which we rely on to give us the best opportunity to have a healthy state of being.

If we can discipline ourselves and take responsibility for our lives and we practice this discipline with healthy choices, good habits will become our lifestyle, freeing us to live unencumbered by illness or injury where we enjoy the quality of life we deserve.

In regards to our physical health, we should all become disciplined in the areas of exercise, nutrition, rest and protecting our spine and nervous system through Chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

How are your habits? Are your disciplines healthy? Good habits require discipline that, when put in place, are easy to live with. Bad habits develop when you are not conscious, not responsible and do not discipline yourself. Bad habits may seem easy but they are very hard to live with.

When you are in a health crisis and suffering from a situation that requires your utmost attention, you are likely to be motivated to reclaim your health. You will usually do whatever is required and are more likely to be disciplined to get the result you want. However, as you become stable and relief has been achieved, do you make the critical transition to change your lifestyle? Do you continue on the path to achieve optimum health and peak performance levels?

Exercise, nutrition, rest, good posture and having your spine checked for nerve interference and proper function are the disciplines of many top performers in sports, entertainment and in the board room as well. Top performers are disciplined and make chiropractic care part of the health disciplines they practice regularly so their nervous system can function properly, which is vital to good health.

As it says in The 100 Year Lifestyle, “Learn to love the things that are good for you.” By being disciplined today and every day you are more likely to enjoy a longer, healthier life. See you at your next appointment.

Contributed by Dr. Dennis Buckley
The 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate Chiropractor in Pasadena, CA